Money

When House Financial Services Committee chairman Barney Frank grilled bank CEOs in a recent televised hearing, I was surprised and even a little proud that my 10-year-old, Maddie, showed interest in the proceedings.

What you'll pay for air charter varies not only by aircraft type and model but by region. Here are the average per-hour rates for popular aircraft nationally and in the Northeast U.S., now and a year ago. Look for price data for other parts of the country in future issues.

What do a business jet and a stamp collection have in common? According to the Internal Revenue Service, both may be hobbies. If the IRS considers your aircraft a hobby, you won't be able to write off all the related expenses for tax purposes.

The worldwide financial malaise that arose out of the subprime mortgage mess has finally infected business aviation. The industry initially appeared immune to the tightening of the credit markets, which seemed to encourage a "flight to quality" by lenders, straight to the nearest general aviation airport.

By not defending the attributes of corporate aviation, the not-so-big three Detroit automakers dealt a blow to executive travel and corporate flight departments. They did further damage during their subsequent road trip to Capitol Hill, which came across as an admission of guilt. [See 'Defending your Jet']

The general population may think jet owners are insulated from economic downturns, but the growing fleet of used aircraft suggests otherwise. Since the beginning of the year, available used inventory has risen considerably.

What you'll pay for air charter varies not only by aircraft type and model but by region. Here are the average per-hour rates for popular aircraft nationally and in the Southwest U.S., now and a year ago. Look for price data for other parts of the country in future issues.

A prominent aviation lawyer complained to me recently when his outraged client discovered he was being "back-to-backed." The lawyer wasn't pleased either, but he acknowledged that so-called back-to-back transactions are common in the business jet marketplace.

Gordon McCall's Motorworks Revival, which takes place annually at the Monterey [Calif.] Jet Center and serves as the kick-off for the Concours d'Elegance, lives up to its billing as "a very cool party...with classic cars and airplanes scattered over the acreage like a rich giant's toy box." So when our company received word from McCall that he had a static-display spot available for us at this

You probably wouldn't dream of buying a car without test-driving it. Yet people sometimes purchase airplanes they have never flown in-or even seen. Some of these buyers rely on a trusted business associate or flight crewmember to look at the aircraft for them, but this is a risky idea. If you're purchasing the airplane and will be riding in it, you'd be well advised to check it out yourself.

Quote/Unquote

“What we need to do is always lean into the future. When the world changes around you and when it changes against you—what used to be a tail wind is now a head wind—you have to lean into that and figure out what to do because complaining isn’t a strategy.
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